JUSTICE AND HOME AFFAIRS : MEDIA URGES EXCLUSION FROM ROME II ON EVE OF EP VOTE.

Publishers and journalists have made a last-minute plea with MEPs to exclude the media from the draft Rome II' Regulation on whose law to apply in cross-border, non-contractual legal disputes. Fearful of facing libel lawsuits in 27 member states, they are demanding that Rome II contain no reference to privacy violation or defamation - including in the review clause. The European Parliament is to vote on a report on 18 January (second reading) that would re-insert such a clause back into the...